50384 addresses percutaneous removal of a ureteral stent. Use 50389 for a nephrostomy catheter entering the renal collecting system.
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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01
50389 Nephrostomy removal Medicare reimbursement rates in Ohio
Removal of a percutaneous nephrostomy catheter with fluoroscopic guidance is reported when a kidney drainage tube is no longer needed. Compare 50389 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Ohio.
Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.
What does Medicare pay for 50389 in Ohio?
Ohio has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.
Office / nonfacility
$365.16
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Ohio
One mapped payment locality.
Facility setting
$45.27
1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.
Payment area: Ohio
One mapped payment locality.
These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.
Interventional radiology
About 50389: Fluoroscopic nephrostomy catheter removal
Removal of a percutaneous nephrostomy catheter with fluoroscopic guidance is reported when a kidney drainage tube is no longer needed.
This service removes an existing percutaneous nephrostomy catheter under fluoroscopic guidance, with radiological supervision and interpretation included. It is typically performed by an interventional radiologist or another appropriately trained physician in an imaging suite or hospital procedure room. The target is a catheter entering the renal collecting system to drain the kidney, rather than a ureteral stent or nephroureteral catheter.
Report the service when the nephrostomy catheter is removed and fluoroscopic guidance is used; documentation should identify the catheter and site, the removal, and the imaging guidance. Same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included in the 0-day global period. When bilateral removal is performed, modifier 50 is paid at 150%. For multiple procedures in the same session, CMS pays the highest-valued procedure in full and reduces the others to 50%. Assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted, and co-surgeon and team-surgery billing are not permitted.
CMS billing rules for 50389
- Global period
- Minor procedure with a 0-day global period: same-day preoperative and postoperative care is included.
- Multiple procedures
- Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
- Bilateral procedures
- Bilateral procedure with modifier 50 is paid at 150%.
- Assistant at surgery
- Statutory restriction: assistant at surgery is not paid.
- Co-surgeons
- Co-surgeons not permitted.
- Team surgery
- Team surgery not permitted.
Where the value comes from
- Work RVU1.07 · 9%
- Practice expense (office) RVU10.67 · 90%
- Malpractice RVU0.12 · 1%
4.1K
Medicare services in 2024 · #1991 by national volume
This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.
50389 compared with similar codes
Office rates for Ohio, from the same CMS release.
50386 is for ureteral stent removal through the urethra. 50389 is for removal of a percutaneous nephrostomy catheter with fluoroscopic guidance.
50387 describes exchange of a nephroureteral catheter. 50389 describes removal of a nephrostomy catheter, not catheter exchange.
Compare 50389 by payment locality
Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.
1 of 1 payment localities
Ohio →
Office / nonfacility
$365.16
Facility
$45.27
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How this local rate is calculated
Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 50389 in Ohio.
PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv
5,911
- Code
- 50389
- Physician work
- 1.07
- Practice expense
- 10.67
- Malpractice
- 0.12
GPCI2026.csv
85
- Locality
- Ohio
- Physician work
- 1.000
- Practice expense
- 0.913
- Malpractice
- 1.008
| Component | RVU | Locality factor | Adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physician work | 1.07 | × 1.000 | 1.0700 |
| Practice expense | 10.67 | × 0.913 | 9.7417 |
| Malpractice | 0.12 | × 1.008 | 0.1210 |
| Total RVUs | 10.9327 | ||
| Conversion factor | × 33.4009 | ||
Office / nonfacility rate, Ohio$365.16
Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula
Office / nonfacility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 1.07 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 10.67 | 0.913 |
| Malpractice | 0.12 | 1.008 |
(1.07 × 1 + 10.67 × 0.913 + 0.12 × 1.008) × $33.4009 = $365.16
Facility
| Component | RVU | Local GPCI |
|---|---|---|
| Work | 1.07 | 1 |
| Practice expense | 0.18 | 0.913 |
| Malpractice | 0.12 | 1.008 |
(1.07 × 1 + 0.18 × 0.913 + 0.12 × 1.008) × $33.4009 = $45.27
The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.
50389 billing questions
How does this differ from removing a ureteral stent?
Report 50389 for removal of a nephrostomy catheter that enters the kidney through the skin. Ureteral stent removal is selected according to whether the stent is removed percutaneously or through the urethra.
Is fluoroscopic imaging separately reported?
Radiological supervision and interpretation are included in this service. The documentation should support that fluoroscopic guidance was used for catheter removal.
Can modifier 50 be used for bilateral removal?
Yes. CMS identifies this as a bilateral procedure; modifier 50 is paid at 150% when removal is performed bilaterally.
How does the multiple procedure reduction affect payment?
When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, CMS pays the highest-valued procedure in full and the other procedures at 50%.
Can an assistant or co-surgeon be billed?
Assistant-at-surgery payment is restricted for this code. Co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.
Where these rates come from
FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.
Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.
